Dignity Health, Catholic Health Initiatives in Talks to Merge

By Mary Kate Nelson | October 25, 2016

Two major nonprofit players in the medical office building space are in talks to merge, according to new reports.

Englewood, Colorado-based Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) and San Francisco-based Dignity Health have signed a non-binding letter of intent to explore their alignment, the organizations announced in a press release Monday. The talks involve a merger, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a person familiar with the situation.

The merger would combine CHI’s 103 hospitals with Dignity Health’s 39 hospitals, and there would be no geographical overlap of the organizations’ acute care facilities, according to the press release. The combined annual revenue for the new company would be $27.8 billion, WSJ reported, citing the organizations’ most recent financial statements.

CHI and Dignity Health expect that discussions will continue through early 2017.

Last month, Dignity Health and CHI formed Precision Medicine Alliance LLC, a partnership meant to create the largest community-based precision medicine program in the nation.

CHI, the nation’s third-largest nonprofit health system, operates in 18 states and has 103 hospitals, including four academic health centers and major teaching hospitals, in addition to 30 critical-access facilities; accredited nursing colleges; community health-services organizations; home health agencies; living communities; and other services and facilities.

Dignity Health, also one of the country’s largest health care systems, is a 22-state network with more than 62,000 employees, 9,000 doctors and 400 care centers, including hospitals, primary clinics, urgent and occupational care centers, imaging centers and home health agencies.